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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

First of all, thanks to everyone who shared February's journal prompts with your friends last month. I did not expect to have such a positive response to the first set of prompts, and of course, I am excited to be able to share another set with you today.

Grab your favorite journaling supplies and find a comfy chair. You can use these prompts to journal however you like. A printable version is available at the bottom of the post.

31 Journal Prompts for March

1. A favorite song lyric2. The thing you always forget to pack3. A fictional character you'd like to switch places with4. Something to let go of5. What do you want more of?6. A typical grocery list7. A fact you don't usually tell people8. What does it take to make a friend?9. The thing that makes you excited10. Everyone needs...11. The best place to be12. How do you focus?13. Who is your "cheerleader?"14. The goal you are working towards now15. Three small steps towards your goal16. The most inspiring person you've met17. How would you describe yourself?18. A few words of advice to someone younger19. Ten things you learned in the past year20. What is the most important thing in life?21. An idea that seems great, but actually isn't22. Five books everyone should read23. Where do you most want to travel?24. What are you good at?25. Three things you learned today26. Something you are looking forward to27. Pick a movie character you identify with28. Ten things you love about spring29. Are you patient?30. Describe a childhood memory31. List some favorite jokes

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

At the beginning of January, I announced my goal of reading 100 books in 2015. January went by quickly, and when looking over my total for books for the first month of 2015, it turns out that I have read 5 book. Which does put me a little behind on my goal. Not too much though, and since I have a two week holiday coming up in February, I will definitely have more time to read over the next few weeks.

Here's what I read this month.

Harry Potter et le prisonnier d'Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
To help improve my French, I've been reading Harry Potter in French. It does take longer for me to read in French (which is part of why my book number is low this month), but I've reached the point where I sometimes forget that I am reading in a different language which seems like a success for me.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid
My book club read this book recently (and by book club, I mean a group of English assistants who decided to get together sporadically to talk about books). It's a love story mixed in with the events that occur to Pakistani man after September 11. The form of narration is interesting, and although I would not have picked up the novel on my own, I found it thought-provoking.

Harry Potter et la Coupe de Feu - J.K. Rowling
More Harry Potter in French. This fourth book is so long. I wasn't sure for a while how I was ever going to finish it especially because I borrowed it from the library and I couldn't renew it because someone else was on the list to borrow it next. Reading back through the books, I remember why I like them so much. These books are good.

The Life of St. Francis of Assisi - Paul Sabatier
As the title suggests, this book is about the life of St. Francis of Assisi. I enjoyed learning more about St. Francis and the time period in which he lived. I felt sometimes as if I should have done a bit more research on my own first before trying to read this book, but overall, I think it was a good introduction to St. Francis.

Neuf Contes - Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault is a French author who is best known for rewriting folk tales into the fairy tales that many of us know today including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding Hood. I actually found these slightly more difficult to read in French than Harry Potter just because the some of the words used in the story are older and used less frequently today. However, I would definitely advise reading these in French if you can. The French elementary teachers that I worked with suggested these to me when I asked what I should read that was traditionally French but not too difficult for someone who speaks French as a second language.

So that's what I read in January. I am proud of the amount of French that I read even if it means that it is slowing down my reading. While I am here in France and have access to all the French books I want (libraries are amazing), I am trying to read as much in French as possible. I'm currently about halfway through the 5th Harry Potter book so I will definitely finish that in February. I've also got another book of fairy tales and a book of poetry from the French teachers as well. And, my book club has picked another book for our next meeting. I will try to read a few more books in February, and I'll update you on my progress at the end of the month.

Also, if you're looking to read Harry Potter in French too and you have Amazon Prime, the French versions of Harry Potter are available to borrow for your kindle. If you don't have Amazon Prime, and you're interested in getting it, the link above will take you to sign up for a free 30 day trial. It's an affiliate link, so it's a win for both of us. I have used Amazon Prime in the past, and the only reason I didn't renew for this year is that I'm not in the US right now.

Monday, February 2, 2015

We just got our first voxbox from influenster! Yay! We're super excited to get to try out the products they sent us to review! The first up is Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal from Rimmel London in 001 Black.

Now, let me start by saying I'm not much of an eye liner girl. My friend, Tori who keeps up with makeup youtubers, had to direct me to Tati's Perfect Eyeliner Tips and Lauren Curtis' Makeup Do's and Don'ts before I felt confident enough that I could put on eyeliner without looking like a fifteen year old. I have to say though I surprisingly like the Scandal Eyes eyeliner.

The formula is soft and glides on without crumbling. It's definitely a good pick for tight-lining your waterline because it won't hurt your eyelid and goes on without a lot of effort. The color turned out a very deep black which is perfect if that's what you're going for. I think if I was buying it for myself I'd try the nude color to open my eyes up a little and try one of the lighter liners like the brown or taupe colors just because my skin is so fair. For $5.50, I'd say these liners are worth it.

Along with the eye liner, we also got a full-size Rimmel Just Let it Go Gentle Eye Make Up Remover. I tried it after using the Rimmel eye liner and my usual mascara. It totally removed the mascara with not too many swipes. I had a hard time getting off all the Scandal Eyes eye liner though. Which is a testament to the eye liner's staying power but not so good if you wanted to get rid of all the eye liner. I did like that the make up remover didn't sting like most makeup removers and that it didn't feel oily on my skin. As I washed the rest of my face with some Dove soap, the make up remover rinsed right off which was nice. For me since I don't wear eye liner a lot this make up remover does the trick.

Note: We received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. However, the review provided is our honest opinion of the product.

Do you use eyeliner? What tips do you have for using it? Let us know in the comments.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

You might remember that during the summer, I wrote a post that included tips on how to start a journal. Since the beginning of January that post has become increasingly popular (probably because people have made New Year's resolutions to keep a journal.)

It took me a long time to start keeping a journal regularly, but one of the things that finally helped me to start it was a list of journal prompts that I found on pinterest. Some days, I have lots of ideas that I want to write about in my journal, but on other days I feel as if I have nothing to say. That is where the journal prompts helped me.

Now that I have a habit of writing in my journal, I use prompts less often, but I still turn to them when I am not sure what I want to write. It's also a nice challenge to bring up topics I wouldn't have thought about otherwise.

Since journal prompts helped me to begin journaling, I want to share 28 journal prompts with you for February. You can use these in your journal in any way that you like. I've included a printable form of the prompts at the bottom of the post as well.

28 Journal Prompts for February

1. Your favorite place
2. A person whom you admire
3. One thing the world needs more of
4. The best compliment that you have received
5. What do you need to be content?
6. Three small steps that could change the world
7. How do you take care of yourself when you are stressed?
8. Five things to do less often
9. Five things to do more often
10. Your favorite book
11. Three favorite book characters
12. Destinations you dream of traveling to
13. Do you work better in the morning or at night?
14. Your ideal morning routine
15. The movie you tell your friends to see
16. An important quote
17. What do you want to learn?
18. A moment you will always remember
19. One way you can help a friend
20. The best day you had last week
21. Five things you like about yourself
22. A good thing from today
23. An accomplishment you are proud of
24. A time when someone helped you
25. What are your priorities in life?
26. Something you don't understand
27. Describe the view from your window
28. The last thing that made you laugh

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Book lovers, you are about to be introduced to your newest favorite youtube creation.

Classic Alice is a series written by Kate Hackett. In the story, a college girl named Alice decides that she will begin living her life according to classic novels after she receives an unwanted grade in a lit class. She and a friend Andrew make a vlog documentary about the project which results in Classic Alice.

You will love seeing the way that the story plays out as Alice tries to live according to books like Crime and Punishment and MacBeth. It's the perfect video series to curl up with during a winter night like the ones we're having now.

In addition to the actual episodes, the project also includes extras like confessionals from the characters and twitter conversations.

So far 7 books have been produced, but the team is working on producing more. In order to fund more episodes, there is a campaign on Indiegogo called #SaveAlice which you can check out for more information.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

So a few weeks ago Elizabeth and I got our very first box of goodies from Influenster in the mail! We're so excited to get to try out these products and let you all know what we think about them. In our box we got:

Candy Cane Lane Green Tea from Celestial Seasonings

Boots No7 Repair and Protect Serum

Fruit Vines Strawberry Bites

Eco Tools Full Volume Styler Brush

McCormick Thyme

New York Color Expert Last Lipstick, Sugar Plum

Just Let it Go Rimmel London Eye Makeup Remover

To be honest, I really thought that some of these products were going to be subpar, but I was really surprised to actually like all of the products. Stay tuned in the next couple weeks to catch our reviews of each product.